The Spanish government is taking active steps to boost market expansion. The volume of public electric vehicle chargers reached a record high in the fourth quarter of 2022, and the government's MOVES III plan put in place in 2021 provides subsidies for the purchase of fuel-cell electric, battery-electric, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, as well as for the installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. However, these efforts have yet to sway consumers' perceptions of the EV market. Over half of the Spanish respondents to a February 2023 survey were willing to make a financial effort to purchase a hybrid or electric vehicle but highlighted disincentives to EV purchase. According to this survey, 66 percent of Spanish car buyers considered fully electric vehicles too expensive. In comparison, 57 percent of the participants experienced range anxiety, and 40 percent reported lacking access to EV charging infrastructure.
Challenges for the Spanish battery-electric market
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) were the country's most popular type of plug-in electric passenger car. Though less popular than their non-rechargeable hybrid counterparts—which comprised around 29.44 percent of the 2022 sales—PHEV sales overtook battery-electric vehicle (BEV) sales in 2020 and reached nearly 47,800 units in 2022. Most electric and hybrid vehicles manufactured in Spain were also PHEVs, which beat BEVs by around 14,000 units produced across vehicle types. This interest in PHEVs over BEVs contrasts with the European trend, as markets like Germany stopped subsidizing new plug-in hybrid electric sales, and suggests that Spanish drivers still rely on PHEV's fossil fuel propulsion.The battery-electric vehicle market faces various sets of challenges to its growth, particularly when it comes to access to charging infrastructure. Differences in the charging network can be observed between autonomous communities. For example, Madrid was the autonomous community with the largest volume of new EV registrations in 2022, including light passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, industrial vehicles, buses, and quadricycles. However, the community ranked second in Spain for the size of its charging network, behind Catalonia. On a national level, the country also boasted more urban public electric vehicle chargers than inter-urban ones and more alternating current (AC) chargers than direct current (DC) ones. AC charging points, while the most common charging type, were also typically slower than DC chargers, as electric vehicle batteries need to transform AC electricity to DC electricity through onboard chargers.
Governmental boost to the EV industry
On July 13, 2021, the Council of Ministers approved the first of the Strategic Projects for Economic Recovery and Transformation (PERTE), focusing on connected and electric vehicles. The project expected more than 24 billion euros to be invested in EVs and connected cars between 2021 and 2023, including 4.3 billion from the public sector. In the context of this plan, Spain set the ambitious goal of reaching 250,000 electric vehicles in the country. This goal is about 140,000 vehicles over the 2022 status quo when nearly 109,900 electric vehicles— including passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, industrial vehicles, and buses—were registered in the country. This attempt to revitalize the sector is expected to rely heavily on the Spanish manufacturing industry. In 2022, 19 electric vehicle models were manufactured in Spain, and forecasts estimate 20 EV models will be produced in the country in 2023. Notably, the country manufactures the electric C4 for Citroën, a French manufacturer. This model was Spain's fifth best-selling battery-electric and extended-range electric vehicle model in 2022.European brands were, however, not the overall market leaders in Spain. The American Tesla and the South Korean Kia and Hyundai were the best-selling BEV brands in 2022, reflecting the ongoing global trend of Tesla and Asian automakers topping the rankings. As of 2022, no Tesla, Hyundai, or Kia electric vehicle models were manufactured in Spain. To revitalize the manufacturing industry and boost electric vehicle sales, Spain could therefore need to increase its international trade of electric vehicles.
